Bangladesh tea prices edge up at weekly auction

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

DHAKA, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Tea prices in Bangladesh edged
higher at a weekly auction on Tuesday on strong demand for
quality leaves amid a lower volume on offer.
Bangladeshi tea fetched an average price of 236.76 taka
($2.80) per kg at the auction, compared with a revised price of
236.44 taka at the previous sale, National Brokers said.
There was good demand for quality tea and buyers were ready
to pay premiums, which aided the rise in prices while supplies
were lower than last week, a senior official at National Brokers
said.
Around 14.9 percent of the 2.62 million kg offered at the
sole auction centre in Chittagong was unsold. In the previous
auction, 14 percent of the 2.75 million kg on offer was unsold.
Bangladesh's tea production jumped nearly 27 percent last
year to a record 85 million kg, helped by favourable weather
conditions and making imports a choice not a necessity.
The South Asian country was the world's fifth-largest tea
exporter in the 1990s but is now a net importer due to a surge
in domestic consumption in line with economic growth.
Following are the results of the latest auction (figures in
Bangladesh taka per kg):
BROKENS
Bold/Large Brokens 227-231
Medium Brokens 233-240
Small Brokens 235-242
Plain Brokens 165-185
FANNINGS
Best Fannings 244-248
Good Fannings 238-243
Medium Fannings 232-235
Plain Fannings 165-185
DUST
Pekoe Dust not quoted
Red Dust 179-280
Dust 158-295
Churamoni Dust 189-275
(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)